Arsenal duo, Haaland, Lewandowski feature in scarily good XI of stars who face missing Euro 2024 finals

Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard look likely to miss the European Championship finals next summer, while Robert Lewandowski also looks bound for the beach…

With some nations’ fates already sealed, here’s a ridiculous XI of top players who are in danger of missing Euro 2024 in Germany…

Goalkeeper: Giorgi Mamardashvili (Georgia)
Georgia are fourth in Group A but in a stronger position than third-placed Norway since they are already guaranteed a play-off spot. Not that the Valencia goalkeeper and his team-mates could take much confidence from their qualification campaign. They have lost half of their six games so far with two games remaining against the top two, though Scotland and Spain may take their foot off the gas since they are already through.

Right-back: Jeremie Frimpong (Netherlands)
The Netherlands defender may be the highest-valued of the right-backs currently sweating on their place at Euro 2024, but Frimpong only made his international debut this weekend as a substitute in the defeat to France that leaves the Dutch playing catch-up. Frimpong’s appearance ends what hope Ghana had of tempting him to switch allegiance.

Centre-back: Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands)
The Liverpool defender spoke recently of feeling over-worked so perhaps having a whole summer off might come as blessed relief. That’s a very real prospect unless Netherlands pull their finger out. They are currently third, three points behind Greece with a game in hand, so tonight’s trip to Athens is huge for both nations, though Netherlands have the safety net of the play-offs.

Centre-back: Josko Gvardiol (Croatia)
A wretched international break has left Croatia fretting over their involvement at the Euros. Gvardiola started both defeats against Turkey and Wales which have left Croatia outside the top two with two games to play. Fortunately, both games are against the bottom two in Group D. If they f*** that up and allow Wales safe passage to Germany, then Gvardiol and his mates will have go through the play-offs.

Left-back: Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine)
The Arsenal defender will be rooting for England against Italy on Tuesday night to allow Ukraine the opportunity to leapfrog the reigning European champions before the final qualifiers, albeit having played a game more. Then, next month, Italy and Ukraine will meet in Leverkusen in what could be a shoot-out for the second qualifying spot from Group B.

Midfield: Piotr Zielinski (Poland)
Poland f***ed it this weekend to let their qualification slip out of their own hands. With Zielinski as skipper, they drew 1-1 with Moldova at home to remain one and three points off Czech Republic and Albania respectively. The Poles have also played a game more than the two nations above them, leaving them looking for snookers.

Midfield: Martin Odegaard (Norway)
The Arsenal captain was kept quiet on Sunday night while Spain sealed theirs and Scotland’s places in the finals. Odegaard and his Norway team-mates can only now qualify through the play-offs, the permutations of which we cannot claim to understand.

Attacking midfield: Dejan Kulusevski (Sweden)
Both Kulusevski and Alexander Isak could be bound for the beach next summer instead of Germany, with Sweden currently on six points from their five qualifiers so far. They need, ideally, to beat already-qualified Belgium on Monday night and win their last two against Estonia and Azerbaijan to avoid missing out on successive major tournaments.

Attacking midfield: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia)
Kvaradona will have to drag Georgia through the play-offs if he is to grace Germany next summer. The Napoli star scored his first goal of the qualifying campaign in the 4-0 win over Cyprus at the weekend but five goals and three assists in six Nations League games has earned Georgia a second chance to reach the European Championship finals.

🇬🇪 Khvicha 🏹#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/RG18z20Wjq

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) October 15, 2023

Striker: Erling Haaland (Norway)
The ridiculous Manchester City star looks set to be the biggest name of all missing from the party in Germany next summer. Norway, who haven’t reached a major tournament since 2000, are relying on favours from elsewhere while most likely needing to beat Scotland in Glasgow.

Striker: Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
“We’ve had problems since the beginning of the qualification phase,” said Lewandowski after the defeat to Albania in the last break. The Barcelona striker sat out this one with an ankle injury and Poland badly missed him against Moldova. All is not well between the Polish FA and their best player, amid claim and counter-claim over who paid the bill when Lewandowski took his team-mates to dinner at the World Cup, then worse-for-wear FA officials are said to have torn into the players on the way home from the defeat to Moldova in June.

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